Black and White Keys
by Brown Eyed Bakas
Summary: [AU] To get into an University away from home, Kagura agrees to take piano lessons from Sesshoumaru. Modern Fairy Tale... but not as perfect as it seems. Humour in interludes Full summary inside.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Full Summary:

(AU) To get into an University away from home, Kagura agrees to take piano lessons from Sesshoumaru. Unfortunately, Kagura has no music sense, Sesshoumaru has no patience... But Yura has a crush... on Sesshoumaru's hair. No longer a Modern Fairy Tale; no happily ever after ending. Just the harsh truth.

_Warning: Insane humour in the interludes._

---

Kagura's boots sank into the grayish slush in a rather distasteful fashion. From beyond the black umbrella, she peered up to the rather gloomy mansion beyond the skillfully groomed hedges.

Sighing, Kagura felt like stomping away.

_Here goes…_

Skipping up the rather impressive stairway to the grand front door, she shook her umbrella free of water droplets and rang the doorbell.

Soon after, the door swung open, narrowly missing her nose. A sharply dressed old man with a perfectly waxed mustache looked down on her and raised an eyebrow. "You must be here for the lessons… Miss Kagura Kaze?"

"Uh, yes," Kagura shuffled her feet.

The man nodded. "Follow me."

The door swung shut heavily as Kagura stepped into the grandeur of the front foyer.

"I shall inform him of your arrival." The man – butler – bowed slightly and walked away.

Kagura tapped her shoes clean of muck as she waited for further instructions. After a few impatient minutes, Kagura decided to look around the house to see what she's up against. Walking to her left, Kagura found herself in an enormous room with nothing but a grand piano, its bench and a red wood stool. Running her fingers along the slender black and white keys, she let out a sigh of defeat.

_How the hell am I going to play this thing, even with a teacher?_

"I do not recall allowing you in here."

Turning hastily to face the voice, Kagura suddenly felt like she was in a cheesy romance novel. Leaning on the frame of the door, the tall man looked at her rather emotionlessly. He had startling golden eyes, contrasting to his uncharacteristic silver hair. However instead of a skip of heart, she felt a surge of disgust, and prayed that he was not who she thought he was.

_If that bastard is going to be my teacher… Kami-sama, kill me now!_

_Even though he could be called handsome…_

"_I_ am Sesshoumaru TaiYoukai, and from today on, I will be teaching you." He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, as if focusing in on her. "Hopefully, you will prove to be more worthwhile than my other students."

Kagura felt a twinge of anger. "I didn't come here to be insulted, you know."

"You _are _here to take lessons from me, are you not?"

Kagura paused, "Yes..."

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, and then slowly opened them, as if making a point. "Then get use to it."

Kagura felt the urge to bash his face in, but the promise of getting away from home made her reconsider her choices. Taking a deep breath, she tried again.

"So, what do you want me to do, _sensei_?"

His jaw line tightened, but he said nothing. He motioned for her to sit down on the bench as he stood behind her.

Kagura smirked inwardly, knowing that she was victorious, at least for now.

"Sit up straight." His voice was sharp.

Kagura scowled, but did as he said. At least he isn't using a ruler, like many teachers did nowadays.

"Do not sit fully on your bench. Sit at the edge, as it will help you sit up straight."

Kagura blinked.

Sesshoumaru seemed annoyed. "Do not tell me you can't even do the simple task of sitting right."

Sensing Sesshoumaru's silent anger, Kagura did as he said, trying to maintain the fragile truce.

Out of no-where, she felt his hands on her shoulder. Slowly, a blush rose to her face. But before long, she found herself toppling sideways. Instinctually, Kagura stuck out an arm to grab on to anything to stop her fall. The only thing within reach happened to be Sesshoumaru. Or rather, his collar.

… and they landed with a nice dull thud on the carpeted floor.

Still in shock, the two froze in the rather awkward position. It wasn't long before Sesshoumaru snapped out of 'it' and pulled himself out of the 'tangle' of human limbs. Kagura sat up, before it all sank in.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

Sesshoumaru merely dusted himself off. "I was trying to get the piano books, in the bench you were sitting at. If you were paying attention, you would have got out of the way."

"Well, _excuse me!_ You could've just said something instead of shoving me off!"

Sesshoumaru sighed visibly. He bent down to open the bench and retrieved two simple looking piano books. "Pick yourself up, you are in the middle of a lesson."

Kagura stared with her mouth open. _I can't believe this guy!_

Struggling to her feet, Kagura settled down on the bench and tried to concentrate on the lines and circles put in front of her.

"Can you at_ least _read music?" Sesshoumaru inquired rather mockingly, returning Kagura's favour.

"If I could, then why would I be here?"

"Let us see where your … ah, limitation lies."

Taking a look at the piano books, Kagura felt a headache to come on. _What the hell do these mean?_

After a series of chaotic key smashing and nervous squeaks, Sesshoumaru slammed the piano shut, startling Kagura.

"Get. Out."

---

Authors' Note:

SilverWolf-Ryuki: This was meant to be a fluffy, modern fairytale-ish romance thingy of some sort. Written on a boring Wednesday night. At 1:28 AM.

Dark Lavender: You can tell both of us… well, we're kind of stoned.

SilverWolf-Ryuki: Except no drugs, no alcohol… not even any inspiration.

Dark Lavender: OK, some inspiration. This is based on a true story. A fellow female piano student of mine fell madly in love with her, also my male piano teacher. Emphasize, Madly! That includes long periods of continuous calling (5PM – 1AM), heart-felt e-mails, and possible prom invitations…

SilverWolf-Ryuki: And this scenario didn't fit anyone else, really, except Sesshoumaru/Kagura, with a bit of Yura obsession. Heheh… courtesy of insanity, which includes overly chocolate chipped muffins.

Dark Lavender: (nods) The sugar just made everything so much better.

SilverWolf-Ryuki: Anyhoot. Enough babbles… till next chapter. R + R!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kagura kicked the slush, spraying it across the narrow street.

_Asshole… how am I supposed to get into my school now?_

Gritting her teeth, Kagura turned around and walked back to Sesshoumaru's house. This time, Sesshoumaru answered.

"I thought I told you to go." He said; his voice deadpan.

"You were paid to teach me piano, no matter how musically crippled I am."

"You can have your money back." Sesshoumaru replied, and turned to close the door.

Kagura was silenced by his reply. She shook her head. "That's not the point. I have to get into this university, far away from here."

Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow. "Why far away?"

"To get away from my father, Naraku." Kagura tried to look as determined as possible. "Please, I promise I'll learn… whatever I need to."

Sighing, Sesshoumaru walked away. He disappeared for a few minutes, but when he came back, he gave her a thin piano book. "Learn the basics, at least. Come back in spring. If you are still hopeless then… I rest my case."

The door closed.

Kagura sighed. "How did I get myself into this?"

---

Come Spring

---

"Kagura-chan! Let's go already!" Yura waved her hand cheerily.

Kagura heaved a heavy sigh. "Why are you tagging along again?"

"To see your gorgeous teacher,"

"I never said he was gorgeous."

"Oh, it was written all over your face." Yura blushed, clutching her cheeks. "But this time, help me pull him down."

Kagura took a cautious step backwards. Her eyebrow twitched with nervousness. "Uh,"

"Let's go already!"

---

Sesshoumaru flipped the page of his book and sighed. He closed it and placed it carefully on the glass table. It was beginning to get boring anyways. He stood and slowly walked over to the large glass sliding doors that lead to the balcony of his second-story study. He slid open the door and stepped out.

_Cherry blossoms…_ Sesshoumaru watched them fall out of the corner of his eyes.

They were peaceful.

Sudden movements caught his eyes. He frowned and looked below, where Kagura and another girl were walking towards his house. The petit girl skipped circles around Kagura, obviously bombarding her with unnecessary conversation.

The fluttering petals made a fleeting screen between him and Kagura…

…and her friend.

Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru gripped the railing of the balcony. _They are multiplying._

---

Hearing the doorbell, the butler sighed, moving reluctantly to the heavy front door.

"It's quite alright, I will get the door." Sesshoumaru's voice rose behind him, descending from the stairs.

The butler bowed and retired to the back.

With a careful eye, the butler watched as Sesshoumaru opened the door and responded with careful preparation. But all is blown away as a small figure tackled Sesshoumaru, forcing him to retreat further into the house.

Kagura stepped in and ignored her excited friend completely. She made herself at home, throwing her bag on the ground, sighing a sigh of relief.

Sesshoumaru, however, was busy trying to pry off the girl off of him, more specifically, his hair.

"Ooooh, they're so pretty… and silky… and smooth… and soft… and long…"

Ignoring the cooing, Sesshoumaru glared at Kagura mercilessly. "What is this… repulsive _thing_ that you have brought along?"

"Meet Yura." Kagura smirked. "Sesshoumaru, Yura. Yura, Sesshoumaru."

"…and soft… and nice… and pretty… and long… and fluffy… and squashy… and sweet…"

"Don't worry, her vocabulary will run out in about a minute." Kagura said, ignoring her friend's now senseless ranting.

"I feel so much better." Sesshoumaru said monotonously.

Determined to lose Yura, Sesshoumaru was starting to contemplate desperate measures. Such as pretending to cut his hair, or poking Yura in the arm, or eveneyeing at a sword hanging as a family symbol.

But, as predicted, Yura ran out of words to say. She loosened her grip on her precious Sesshoumaru hair, and stumbled off to a corner, thinking of more words.

Remembering their original purpose, Sesshoumaru cleared his throat and led Kagura to the piano room.

"So, I assume that you have learned the basics?"

"Of course," Kagura snapped. "Do you think that I would come back empty handed?"

"You mean, empty brained?" Yura suggested.

Sesshoumaru, Kagura and the butler glared at Yura, who go the hint (for once) and rocked herself in the corner.

Seating herself, Kagura looked at Sesshoumaru for his next ridiculous command.

Setting a new book in front of Kagura, Sesshoumaru said simply.

"Play."

After minutes of precisely struck notes, Kagura ended the little etude with an impressive little flourish. Kagura sat proudly (and straightly) for her well deserved praise.

"Okay, then."

A vein popped dangerously on Kagura's forehead. "_Okay, then?_ What the hell is that?"

"That's what I should be asking you."

Kagura's vein grew bigger. "I played that perfectly!"

"With no emotion at all."

Kagura froze, before bursting into laughter. "Emotion? What do _you_ know about _emotion_?"

Scooting Kagura over, Sesshoumaru proceeded to play the piece. Except instead of cheap music-box tinkering, it was fuller, filled with a simple loneliness; a lingering bitterness.

Kagura looked suspiciously at the piano, _how did it sound so much better?_

"It _sounds_ better if you_ play _it better."

---

Authors' Note:

Here's the long-awaited first chapter. It turns out that this is probably going to be… short. Maybe even slow… who knows? This is where we finally see that piano lessons are useful for once (no offence to our teachers) (SilverWolf-Ryuki: Yes, offence to mine.)

The emotion problem is really annoying, even to us, the patient… normal people. (sigh) I truly feel for Kagura, being taught emotion by an ice-cube. But it's but than my singing and aggravating thing of a teacher. It's strange… we both take piano lessons.

SilverWolf-Ryuki: Although I must say, I'm less music-literate than my esteemed colleague here. That's alright though… I dunno. At least I'm not less musical in senses, I guess. Just don't ask me to sing.

Dark Lavender: Ha, I'm in the school choir. I can sing (I think…)

SilverWolf-Ryuki: So much for being modest. Anyways… R + R people!


	3. Interlude

Interlude

A/N: We know who you are, clickers. Yes, clickers. The people who click and do nothing! Cursed you! Oh, and beware. We're both high. And low. (Fruits Basket off-vocals induced) and filled with white chocolate and fluffy stick thingy goodness! See how high we are? (Or at least… see how high that fool of a SilverWolf-Ryuki is? explodes... gushes... too much Elfen Lied…) with the head… and the horns… and the "I murdered my daughter, and my wife saw it and committed suicide" LMFAO! I swear; we're not on drugs. We're high… on life!

_(NOTE: These authors are genuinely not on drugs.)_

And as a tribute to our high/low, we're going to do a spin-off, parody, something of what-not.

--

"Vat are you dooooing?" Sesshoumaru whined lazily. "You 'ave to add les emooooooooooooootioooon! Idiot! Baaakaaaaa! Stupiiiide!"

Kagura stared with dotted eyes. "What are you? Japanese? English? French? Italian?"

"Eh, mate?" Sesshoumaru snorted. "Jolly good weathah t'day, eh?" He elbowed Kagura roughly.

"Uh," Kagura blinked. "I think I should leave now…"

"Oh, sweeeeeetie, good BYE!" Sesshoumaru puckered up and bumped cheeks with Kagura, while keeping 2 meter of distance under the waist.

"Tell me again," Sesshoumaru trailed off, batting his eyelashes, blushing and flicking his wrist. "Am I pretty?"

Kagura froze, her eye twitching madly.

"YES!" Yura burst through the door. "OH, YOU ARE PRETTY!"

"Why thank you!" Sesshoumaru wiped a tear off of his eye.

"Not you, baka." Yura slapped him. "Oh, precious hair… so beautiful…"

Kagura blinked and shriveled up into a corner, rocking herself. "I need a hug…"

In a blink of an eye, Sesshoumaru plastered himself on her.

The butler cleared his throat and whipped out a camera. He took a picture, and put it in a certain folder called "Blackmail Material", and sneaked out of the back door.

--

NOTE: For understanding the last joke-ish thing, see _The Dating Game_ for more info.

--

A/N: Nice interlude, ne? We're back on our low now. So, we're pretty sane. And depressed… not really. (What are we doing here? Does it make a difference if we lived or died?) But just sane… we hope. cough.

But seriously, no… really, completely seriously, we're not on anything.


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Authors' Note:

Regarding the last chapter - it was an _interlude_. It was meant _**not to **_be part of the story at all. It was just a crazy spin-off that we decided to just... put it. For the heck of it. We understand Sesshoumaru was out of character, and we also understand that he would never 'plaster' himself on Kagura. (chuckle) plaster...

Also, sorry for everything, guys. But from now on, we've decided that this story is actually not going to be the perfect, funny, romantic story. Yes, there is going to be drama. (Cue in Beethoven's fifth symphony) It won't be perfect anymore. However, there will still be a much humour as we can include in here, but no more interludes, as we've ran out of space to put them.But there will be some drama, and possible angst. There won't be any love triangles (I, SilverWolf-Ryuki, am tired of them), but drama is surely included. The alternative is thatthere will be very slow, crummy updates, and mild, mildhumour.Since we've already hit many writer's block, and it is chapter 2.

This will be a… sort of short story. So not 20 chapters, but more like, (including the interlude), 7 chapters.

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. We really appreciate it.

Oh, and one last thing. When we said spring before, we meant March, specifically.

---

Through the filter of the cherry trees, Sesshoumaru spotted Kagura alone, for once, walking towards his house.

It's almost a habit now, for him to watch her like this.

Curiously, no matter what the distance is between her and the house, she always seemed so far away.

It must be the cherry blossoms.

---

Kagura knocked a few times before she let herself into the house.

Brushing the pink petals off of her shoulders, Kagura made her way into the piano room.

"Where's that _thing?_" Sesshoumaru asked, entering the room behind Kagura.

"Oh, you mean Yura? She moved away." Kagura stated simply.

Sesshoumaru mentally heaved a sigh of relief. Something told him that maybe Kagura wasn't as happy about it as he is.

"I thought that I told you to come to class prepared." Sesshoumaru warned in a rather sever voice, "Which does not include going to sleep late, or putting your social life before your practices."

As soon as the retort left his mouth, he realized that it was going way too far, as Kagura hid her eyes behind her bangs and kept silent.

"We will skip lessons for today." Sesshoumaru closed the lid of the piano and turned to the butler standing in the hallway, near the door. "Could you please bring out some tea?"

"Certainly."

Minutes later, Kagura found herself in the drawing room with a cup of herbal tea in her hands. On the table was a small tray of sugar cubes, biscuits and a pitcher of both honey and milk.

"So was Yura a good friend?" Sesshoumaru asked as he stirred his tea.

"Yes." Kagura replied softly, staring into her steaming teacup. "Umm, thank you."

From that day on, their time together smelled of tea and biscuits.

---

"You have to play louder and firmer. What are you trying to accomplish, playing like that?"

"Last time, you said that I was too loud and was banging the piano. Now you want me to relearn my so called mistakes? Make up your mind!" Kagura snapped.

"Last time you were too loud, and this time you are playing like a girl." Sesshoumaru pointed out.

"What do I look like to you, a duck?"

"From your skills, you might as well be."

"That's it." Kagura stood up abruptly and made her way to the door. "I'm out of here."

Sesshoumaru sighed as the front door slammed thunderously.

"She will be back." He mumbled to himself.

---

Authors' Note:

If you haven't read the first bit, please do so.

We are sorry for the half sized chapter, we've simply ran out of ideas for 'genuine feelings' scenes. We are trying to make up for the lack of developments for the couple, and the long period of blankness that will take place in the next chapter. Hopefully you will all understand that romance is very scarce in our lives, as we are both… surprisingly young. And therefore, we cannot produce quality stories on such topic. So voila, the birth of the half chapter. Or the quarter chapter, as the author's notes take up most of it. How sad…

The skip in time for the next chapter is large, we know, but in order for this story (and our heads) to run smoothly, the skip is necessary. (We know, we know, two months…) However, we really don't have the patience to write about something neither of us has dipped our feet into. So… yep.

Badly written flames will be laughed at, and used to burn itself. Please, if you are to insult us, don't give us a reason to insult you. How ironic, it's always the unreasonable flames that have bad grammar.

Anyways. Comments are greatly appreciated! Especially suggestions.


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

---

MAY

---

"Exams." Sesshoumaru repeated.

"Yes, exams."

"When?"

"Oh, in seven days." Kagura fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"_Seven days? _How do you expect _me_ to teach_ you _anything in that short of a time?" Sesshoumaru demanded.

Kagura narrowed her eyes. "That was cold."

"It is truth, Kagura." Sesshoumaru frowned. "So far, you have not been working as hard as you could. In fact, in the two months you have taken lessons, you have barely shown any emotion in your music, or anything at all for that matter. If exams are in seven days, you are going to have to snap out of it. Last week, I told you to put more movement into your piano playing, but it is still as stagnant."

"Snap out of what?" Kagura retorted. "I've been working my ass of here showing _emotion_ while you sat there like a block that knows only how to insult."

Sesshoumaru's eyes softened. "Well, what do you expect me to do?"

Kagura met Sesshoumaru's eyes. "Why don't you try _teaching_ me how to put more emotion in my music?"

Sesshoumaru cupped Kagura's face gently and kissed her.

---

"Young Master, something has been bothering you."

Sesshoumaru looked up to see the butler. He looked back down to his book. "That is none of your concern."

"Excuse me for my rudeness, but," The butler's voice was louder than usual. "Sesshoumaru, I have been with your family for 30 years. I helped your grandfather plan your father's wedding, I helped your father pick out your mother's ring and your mother pick which dress, even though she never took my word, as a male, that is. I talked your father into putting you in piano, and I put up with all your nonsense during your teenage years. I think it _is_ my concern."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "But even you have matters that you do not discuss with me."

The butler chuckled. "Tell me, would you listen to me if I told you?"

Sesshoumaru froze. He sighed, his eyes softening.

"It is about Miss Kagura, is it not?"

"Could you tell?"

"What… is the matter?"

Sesshoumaru sighed. "I kissed her."

"You do realize what you are doing, no?" The butler raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Sesshoumaru frowned. "I was helping her. It is best, seeing that exams are in a week."

"But you will miss her."

"I said; it is best this way."

The butler sighed. "Then, I guess it cannot be helped."

---

_Dear Diary…_

Kagura frowned, and crossed it out. She sighed, having not written in the diary for 2 years. She sighed, ripped off that page and tried again.

_May 28,_

_Piano exams are in 3 days. If I fail this one, I can't make it to the really good university, away from home – this hellhole of one. Except if I go away, he will no longer be there, within my reach. I won't see him again. Maybe ever..._

---

"Good, you did quite well." Sesshoumaru's eyes scanned over the results.

"Did you mean it?" Kagura said, quietly, after a short period of silence.

Sesshoumaru met Kagura's eyes, but turned away. "It was simply to help you pass."

"I see," was Kagura's reply.

"It was what you wanted, was it not?"

She did not answer.

---

Author's Note:

Yeah, another half chapter. But if we put more, it'll disrupt the whole situation. Well, all we can say is, read on. We'll try to give a tear-jerker in the last chapter. Remember – don't be disappointed.

**and...**

We don't want to disrupt the 'lingery' feeling, here's the last author's note.

---

Last Author's Note:

Well, almost the end. Note for the Epilogue: anyone who's seen Beyond The Clouds, well, echo this narration to the tone of the main character, at the beginning.

For the last time, just because we don't want to ruin the 'lingering feeling' in the next chapter, thank you for all your reviews.We really appreciate all of you, taking your time to read this. We feel that this story did move on too fast. But, we both laugh at the simple reason - we're both unable to write something like that. Lack of experience, maybe.

Anyway. If you're all looking for some humour that will probably never be a complete idea, check out The Dating Game, by us, of course.

Ja,


	6. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

---

Kagura shoved her bags into the over-head luggage compartment. She heaved a heavy sigh, sat down on her seat by the window and looked out. It was a busy station, layers of steamed separated the crowd, only their feet visible.

She closed her eyes, half expecting to see him there, on the platform, when she opens them again.

But he wasn't there.

There was no reason for him to come.

After all, he was just being a good piano teacher.

---

_I wonder if she ever noticed my absence._

_Would she have left if I had shown up?_

One last time, Sesshoumaru's fingers brushed across the black and white keys of the grand piano.

_Maybe someday, I'll have the heart to play it again._

---

"I'm so sad that I have to leave him behind."

Kagura snapped out of her reverie. "Huh?"

"My boyfriend. I already miss him. I wonder how he's doing right now." The girl sitting beside Kagura rambled on. Suddenly, a determined and fierce look filled her eyes. "He better not be cheating on me!"

"Right," Kagura said, absent minded.

"Do you have someone special you left behind?" The girl questioned.

Kagura considered whether she should lie about it. But there was no use. After-all, they were going to be room-mates for the rest of the year. "Yes, you can say that."

"So, tell me, what's he like?" The girl asked curiously.

"It doesn't really matter anymore. After all, it was just a childish infatuation."

A concerned look filled the girl's eyes. "How can you say that?"

"Well," Kagura sighed. "I'm here, aren't I?"

---


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

---

_You know the empty feeling of knowing that you left something behind? Something special?_

_I didn't have it._

_We never crossed paths again._

_It's like a half written story, except no one bothered to finish it._

_Doubts still surround me. _

_Would he have appeared at the train station if I waited for just a bit longer? _

_Or if I never got on the train at all…_

_Would we be together?_

_One day when we finally find our 'soul-mate', will our memories fade? Or will it haunt us?_

_But I don't regret my decision. At least not yet._

_I guess… _

_Well,_

_I guess I never really loved him._

---

**-FIN-**


End file.
